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RadioShack Name Up For Grabs

Wilmington, Del. — The RadioShack brand name, which was to go to majority shareholder and chief lender Standard General under a prepackaged Chapter 11 plan, will instead be auctioned off separately from the chain’s remaining stores next month.

According to published reports filed today from the federal bankruptcy court here, the CE chain has relented to pressure from creditors and has agreed to hold a separate auction for the iconic brand.

Standard General, which was to inherit the nameplate along with its planned purchase of some 2,000 preferred stores, will enter a stalking horse bid of $20 million for the badge, an attorney for RadioShack told the court.

The retailer has also agreed to push back the auction date from March 12 to March 26, to give other potential bidders a chance to vie for the stores and the 94-year-old RadioShack name.

The additional auction leaves the brand’s future even more uncertain. Possible scenarios could include its use as a standalone e-commerce site, a fate that befell Circuit City after its intellectual property was picked up by CompUSA and later TigerDirect. The website has since been shuttered.

Separately, Reuters reports that only 205 bids were received for the nearly 1,800 least desirable store locations that are currently being liquidated and closed. Among the bidders is Spring Mobile, an authorized AT&T retailer and GameStop subsidiary that has been pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy.